oking-room.

Amazement gripped Alan. He switched on his light and made his final
arrangements for bed. He had no inclination to spy upon either Mary
Standish or Graham's agent, but he possessed an inborn hatred of fraud
and humbug, and what he had seen convinced him that Mary Standish knew
more about Rossland than she had allowed him to believe. She had not
lied to him. She had said nothing at all--except to restrain him from
demanding an apology. Evidently she had taken advantage of him, but
beyond that fact her affairs had nothing to do with his own business in
life. Possibly she and Rossland had quarreled, and now they were making
up. Quite probable, he thought. Silly of him to think over the matter
at all.

So he put out his light again and went to bed. But he had no great
desire to sleep. It was pleasant to lie there, flat on his back, with
the soothing movement of the ship under him, listening to the musical
thrum of it. And it was pleasant to think of the fact that he was going
home. How infernally long those seven months had been, down in the
States! And how he had missed everyone he had ever known--even
his enemies!

He closed his eyes and visualized the home that was still thousands of
miles away--the endless tundras, the blue and purple foothills of the
Endicott Mountains, and "Alan's Range" at the beginning of them. Spring
was breaking up there, and it was warm on the tundras and the southern
slopes, and the pussy-willow buds were popping out of their coats like
corn from a hopper.

He prayed God the months had been kind to his people--the people of the
range. It was a long time to be away from them, when one loved them as
he did. He was sure that Tautuk and Amuk Toolik, his two chief herdsmen,
would care for things as well as himself. But much could happen in seven
months. Nawadlook, the little beauty of his distant kingdom, was not
looking well when he left. He was worried about her. The pneumonia of
the previous winters had left its mark. And Keok, her rival in
prettiness! He smiled in the darkness, wondering how Tautuk's sometimes
hopeless love affair had progressed. For Keok was a little heart-breaker
and had long reveled in Tautuk's sufferings. An archangel of iniquity,
Alan thought, as he grinned--but worth any man's risk of life, if he had
but a drop of brown blood in him! As for his herds, they had undoubtedly
fared well. Ten thousand head was something to be proud of--

Suddenly he drew in hi